Lessons

I offer personal one on one surf lessons at my home in Australia and around the world. Some of my coaching experiences have been in the Mentawais, Telos, Aceh and Banyaks in Sumatra, Bali, Sumba, West Papua, Maldives, Mauritius, South Africa, Huntington USA, Fiji, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and even the wave pool in the Dubai desert.

What I can say is I know I can make a difference to your surfing by improving your technique and your awareness of surf culture, surf spots around the globe, equipment and the ocean and her waves. Surfing needs be have a holistic approach. The sum of all these parts is greater than the whole.

Surfing is much much more than angling towards the shore performing manoeuvres on a board. There are a myriad of factors that overlay the surfing experience. It can get a bit complicated and therefore frustrating. There are strategies and drills that can improve your technique and therefore the “Stoke” or fun in the surf. I can unravel these factors and give you clear simple tips that will have immediate effect. I am also big on safety and confidence in the water, (if you are caught inside and being pitched backwards over the falls it is hard to remember your initial goal was to tweak your take off or improve your bottom turn).

Without doubt the bio mechanics of motion and your body positioning throughout manoeuvres is crucial. I use video analysis for this.

The “real estate rule” for surfing is essential: position, position, position. Surfing with you will demonstrate this and will increase your surfing confidence and your wave count. There are drills you can use out of the water but it is way easier to improve when you are catching plenty of waves.

On occasions all you may need is for me to unlock the knowledge you have already sub consciously accumulated enabling you can get to the next level. Do not under estimate the power of simplicity.

There are a host of life skills that will assist your surfing. Persistence, patience, creativity, commitment, curiosity, intuition, integrity, courage and self confidence. Healthy living and fitness, clear thinking, sense of achievement, goal setting, planning and purpose along with spacial awareness and respect for other surfers and the environment. Don’t leave these life skills at the water’s edge; take them out in the ocean with you. Using these life skills will develop your surfing conversely surfing will also develop these life skills. Given surfing’s popularity and our ever increasing crowded beaches, I reckon we all need to bring these qualities to the beach.

To give you an example of developing these life skills, let’s take curiosity. A curious mind will want to know why a wave breaks the way it does, it will ponder tide, swell and wind direction and the effect that has on the wave, the beach bathymetry or the makeup and levels of the sea floor. The curious mind may then explore board designs that suit that particular wave and what is the best takeoff position. A simple way to start the process is to watch a surf break and identify the surfer that is catching all the best waves and then pin pointing where correct take off place is. The goal is to take the luck factor out of catching waves and to consolidate your wave count. The end result is a better long term surfing experience.

One compelling reason to improve your surfing is enjoying the ability of surfing a wider variety of different surf breaks. The more proficient you become the more surf spots open up to you. Gaining enough confidence to go over the edge in the Mentawaiis or any other serious coral reef opens up a world of possibilities. It is never too late to start improving.

Just in case this all sounds a tad in depth having FUN needs to be on the top of your list. This is why we surf in the first place. As you have probably guessed from my logo I enjoy having a bit of a laugh, even at my own expense. My lesson charges start at $150 for a two hour session.